Space tycoon Charlie Ergen to invest £39m in satellite broadband firm rescued by Government
Space tycoon Charlie Ergen is to invest £39m in a satellite broadband firm rescued by the Government.
The American billionaire is joining a consortium behind Oneweb that also includes India’s Bharti Global.
It is part of efforts to create a home-grown alternative to the US military’s GPS service and Europe’s Galileo programme, which the UK has been excluded from because of Brexit.
Sky’s the limit: Oneweb is part of efforts to create a home-grown alternative to the US military’s GPS service and Europe’s Galileo programme
Ergen, 67, will invest the money into Oneweb through Hughes Network Systems, a subsidiary of his company Echostar.
The UK acquired a controlling share in collapsed Oneweb at an auction in New York earlier this month. It pledged £400m that was matched by Bharti.